Galaxy S10+ Won't Update to Android 10

Had the same issue, fought with them and finally they discovered years ago I went over my data and my data was throttled and my account put on a “black list” which some how affected the ability of my phone to get the OTA updates. I was told by AT&T that it could not be corrected. Call AT&T and demand they fix it 

Yes they have a throttle list

@philnfla

@pppyyy 

Going over your data plan does not Blacklist (Google the term) or put you on some kind of permanent naughty list that prevents OTA updates.  (throttle list?  Really?) 

   Each update requires the one before it. Sometimes calling advance tech support can trigger the updates by your IMEI. 

Once you are several behind, you may need to locate a Samsung mobile service center.  Best buy use to have them, some still do.

This is without a doubt an account, not device based issue.  Out of five AT&T managed devices on my account (all purchased at AT&T corporate locations), only one (a Samsung Galaxy Watch) is up to date (and that’s only because the last update was in February of 2020, before my account started having the problem).  I have never tried to (Edited per community guidelines), hack, or in any other way modify them in a way that would render them ‘rogue’ devices on the network.

Here are the other devices we have:

1. Samsung Galaxy Watch (SM-R815U), one update behind
2. Galaxy S10 (SM-G973U), one update behind
3. Galaxy S10+ (SM-G975U), three updates behind
4. Galaxy Tab S4 (SM-T837A), four updates behind

The only reason the numbers vary so much is that I was for a long time able to take the AT&T sim card out of my work phone and put it into the S10s and they would sit there and climb the update ladder until they were on the latest release.  That solution is no longer working for me unfortunately and never worked on the tablet (and obviously the watches).  It is pretty disappointing to me that a company that owns probably one of the largest (if not the largest) network of managed devices can’t get a handle on managing devices (or maybe I’ve rubbed them the wrong way somehow and am no longer privy to software updates).  In their defense, it is a really big network and I bet this problem is affecting only a small percentage of it, so no matter how you slice it, they are doing a pretty good if not exceptional job.  Either way, by not giving users the ability to keep their own devices up to date and secure, AT&T has sort of accepted the liability for what can happen with devices that are not up to date and secure.  The way I see it, I have two choices;  I can either spend another three hours on the phone with them while they give each one of my devices permission to update, or I can wait for my identity to be stolen from someone (or any other slew of awful things that could happen) who used an exploit that one of these updates was specifically released to fix, then let my attorney’s take care of it.  I’ve been an AT&T customer for about 20 years.  I started on the Blue Network before they merged with Cingular, and I have to say at least 95% of the time I’ve been an extremely happy customer.  I have no intentions of moving to another provider, I’m sure that decision wouldn’t be without a bunch of the same or different problems.

Waiting patiently,

Brian

Brian,

Why do you say that updating by switching out the sim card is no longer available? I myself have used this method to update my S10+ as recently as December 2020. 

Tim

I'm happy to hear that is still working for you.  In my case, when I take my work SIM and put it in my personal phones, I now get the same behavior that I get from my personal SIM cards.  I check for updates, and the device is always up to date.

Dear all,

I am from Europe and I am dealing with the same type of the issue. I somehow bought a phone which was purchased from AT&T (unfortunately I didn't notice it!). Can anyone tell me what are my options now in order to solve it ? Thank you.

@dostojan

Your problem is not the same.   The term OTA  update refers to over the air. That means you have to be connected to AT&T to get an AT&T update. If you are in Europe you are not connected to AT&T.

In order to update an AT&T Android you have to be in the United States and using at&t for service. 

Even if you do come to usa:

If you have fallen significantly behind with updates you may never catch up. AT&T does not keep old updates on the server forever.  Only Samsung USA has At&t updates.

@lizdance40 

Thank you for your comment. 

Is it really that bad, that also an authorized Samsung dealer won't be able to update the phone on a newer software version ? I also did a factory reset, but the problem is still there.

Is there any other way around of totally wiping out everything that has to deal with the AT&T from my phone to put in a state as it was shipped from the Samsung factory ? Would that solve the issue ?

Thanks!